So, another old fave is returning to Melrose…Daphne Zuniga is returning for a few episodes as Jo Reynolds. You may all remember that Jo moved into the complex about half way through the first season replacing Sandy Louise Harling (Amy Locane). Jo came on the scene as a photographer with a lot of baggage and was a total rebel. She carried a gun and rode a motorcycle. Total bad ass! 😉 Anywho, after a few seasons, Jo was softened beyond recognition and soon found herself always being the damsel in distress. That said, her romance with Jake Hanson (Grant Show) was definitely one for the ages on Melrose. They had great chemistry, but were always being broken up by other characters. Jo found herself at odds with Jane (Josie Bissett) when Jo began dating Richard (Patrick Muldoon) who was Jane’s ex. Jo left Melrose after some guy she was dating proposed to her and took her away. Now, Jo will be returning to Melrose as a professional photographer. No news yet on what her story will be. But I’ll keep looking! Daphne marks the fourth original cast member to return to Melrose, with Laura Leighton (Sydney), Thomas Calabro (Michael), and Jose Bissett (Jane) also set to return.

Daphne Zuniga returns as Jo Reynolds

In other casting news, Brooke Burns of Baywatch fame, is also moving into Melrose. Brooke will be playing Michael’s (Thomas Calabro) wife, Vanessa Mancini. Apparently Michael will be up to his old antics and Vanessa will get caught up in it all.

Brooke Burns as Vanessa Mancini

Also, fans of the original series will remember when Sydney (Laura Leighton) worked for a famous Hollywood Madame, played by Days of Our Live’s Kristian Alfonso (Hope on Days). Well, it looks like one of the new residents will be repeating history…and the new Madame has been cast. She will be played by Kelly Carlson of Nip/Tuck fame.

Kelly Carlson as the new madame

If you’ve been watching The CW at all this summer, you’ve been seeing a few promos for the new Melrose set to the sound of Britney Spears. Well, here are a few promo posters for the new series. Looks like Melrose is going to be hotter than ever!!!!

It has been confirmed that the new “Melrose Place” will air right after “90210” on Tuesday nights here in the states. WOO HOO!!!!! I’m really excited that we’ll have them on back to back. It’s also been hinted that there may be a few crossovers between the two shows, which also makes me VERY excited! The CW’s website has added a “Melrose Place” section that includes the new commercial for the series as well as this cast photo:

The New Melrose Cast

Also, Shaun Sipos (who originally was supposed to be the son of Jake Hanson (Grant Show), is now going to be playing David Breck (the son of Michael Mancini). I wonder who David’s mother will be? Could it be Jane (Josie Bissett)? Kimberly (Marcia Cross)? Meghan (Kelly Rutherford)? Sydney (Laura Leighton)? My guess is this. I bet that David turns out to be Michael and Sydney’s son. I’m thinking that this will explain Syd’s apparent death during her and Craig’s (David Charvet) wedding. I could totally see this happening: Sydney is so excited about her wedding to Craig and so in love with him. All of a sudden, she decides to take a pregnancy test and finds out that she’s pregnant. She looks at the timeline for how far along she is and realizes that she got pregnant from Michael (Thomas Calabro) and not Craig. So, she doesn’t want to hurt Craig because she loves him so much and he’s so good to her. Instead, she fakes her death and runs away to have her baby elsewhere. Totally sounds like a Melrose Place plot. I wonder if I’ll be right?

David Breck (Shaun Sipos): Could this be Michael and Sydney's son???

Also, The CW has released it’s Fall 2009 schedule. Some interesting things to discuss. Here’s the schedule:

THE CW FALL 2009 SCHEDULE

MONDAY
8-9 p.m.: Gossip Girl
9-10 p.m.: One Tree Hill

TUESDAY
8-9 p.m.: 90210
9-10 p.m.: Melrose Place

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m.: America’s Next Top Model
9-10 p.m.: The Beautiful Life

Sure to tick off many fans of Smallville, the show has been bumped to Friday nights. We all know that any show bumped to Friday nights is dead. Friday nights are just not a good night for TV. So, I’m thinking that this could be the final season of Smallville, unless the fans unite and figure out a way to save it.

The cast of Smallville

“Gossip Girl” and “One Tree Hill” have worked well together, so that’s a no brainer. “90210” and “Melrose” have always been destined to be back to back (the way they started off in the 90’s on Wednesdays). Ashton Kutcher’s “The Beautiful Life” makes sense with “America’s Next Top Model” since they are both shows about models. “The Vampire Diaries” needed a home, and even though “Smallville” and “Supernatural” worked well together, it also makes sense to put “The Vampire Diaries” and “Supernatural” together. The CW is going to own TV this fall with such talked about new shows and proven hits returning. Also, note that “Privileged” has DEFINITELY been cancelled. 😦 Too bad, I really liked that show. And also, “Valley Girls” (the Gossip Girl spinoff), as I previously told you, has been bumped to a possible mid-season replacement show. What do you all think of this new lineup and the Melrose scoop??

So, for my first blog, I must write about something that is coming up that I’m VERY excited about…the new Melrose Place that’s being developed for The CW.

Now, to start off, I was a HUGE fan of the original 90210 which lead to the spinoff, Melrose Place. That show, to this very day, is one of my fave shows of all time. It was so juicy, and it featured some of my fave TV characters of all time: Sydney (played by Laura Leighton), Kimberly (played by Marcia Cross), Amanda (played by Heather Locklear), Jane (played by Josie Bissett), Michael (played by Thomas Calabro), Jake (played by Grant Show), and Peter (played by Jack Wagner).

Fast forward to 2008, a new 90210 is introduced. While the show is subpar in stories, I’ve LOVED watching it to catch the retuns of Jennie Garth, Shannen Doherty, Tori Spelling, and Joe E. Tata. Now we find out that this new 90210 is getting a spinoff…Melrose Place! I’m ecstatic. So, I’ve been trying to keep up on all the casting news, so here is what we know so far…

First off, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz (sis to Jessica Simpson and former star of her own reality show and 7th Heaven) has joined the cast. Many people are complaining about it, but I don’t really understand why. I’m not a fan of her’s, but I wasn’t a fan of half of the original cast prior to the show starting. So, I’m looking forward to see what she’ll offer the new show.

Laura Leighton has signed on to play Sydney Andrews again! This is the MOST exciting news about the new show for me so far, since she was my fave character on the original. I hated it when they killed her off, but I did love that she married Craig (which is my name). Now she’ll be the new owner of the building that all the residents live in, so she’ll be Amanda 2.0. Very cool!

Thomas Calabro has also signed on to play Michael Mancini again! WOO HOO!!!! So far I only see that he’ll be in the pilot, which doesn’t guarantee he’ll be recurring or that we’ll even see him again after the pilot, but still VERY cool news! Maybe Syd is still after Michael.

Heather Locklear will NOT be returning…at least not yet. It has been said that she couldn’t think of a good reason why her character would return. I tend to agree. While I did LOVE Amanda Woodward, I just don’t think she’d fit in with this new 20/30 something crowd unless she were to play someone’s boss at D&D Advertising (but from what I’ve seen and heard about the new cast, I don’t think any of them are working at D&D).

I also hear that the teacher on the new 90210, the one dating Kelly, will be the character that has connections to the new Melrose cast, so that’s where the spinoff will spring from.

I’m definitely excited that we’re getting a new Melrose. My hope is that it will start off much much better than the new 90210 has. (I do hear things will be getting fixed on the new 90210 though, but that’s another blog).

So, what do you all think of the new Melrose? Which original cast members would you like to see make a return?